High Winds

Ohmygod, it's minus 25 and it's so windy I think I'm going to be blown away...and I don't really care. I later find out that we were suddenly hit by a 40 knot wind in minus 25. All of a sudden we were putting up tents and I was wondering which tent I should be in. I was too cold to think or express any kind of logical thoughts so what did I do? I swore. Ooopps. Thank God everyone else was swearing and trying to put up the tents. Afterwards, a member of the group, who shall remain anonymous, confided that he had loved this survival experience because he had wanted to taste real danger and excitement during the trip. Once we were safe in our tents that first mug of tea in front of a stove never tasted so sweet. Looking back, I remember being alone in the middle of the tent (because I was the smallest) as everyone struggled to get the tent up and then threw in their gear. I wished sometimes I was stronger. I packed each person's gear away in their corner and prayed we'd all get in safe and escape the winds. It was the most fantastic feeling when we were all in the tent, huddled around the stove, sipping tea. We had survived. We were there...each one of us was tired and cold. We'd been through this extraordinary experience together..we slept so well....